The Hawaii Legislature is close to passing a law that would allow the state toignore repeated requestsfor to produce the document. Lawsuits have been filed by people who don't believe Obama was born in Honolulu and is a U.S.-born citizen. The blogosphere and even some news stories have called these Obama critics "birthers."

This comes as Obama critics in Georgiaand Arizona try to get their Legislatures to pass a law requiring Obama -- and other presidential candidates -- to produce their birth certificates before they can get on a ballot.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said there's little the White House can do about "crazy Internet rumors" that Obama was not born in the United States and is therefore ineligible for the presidency. He noted that the campaign posted copies of Obama's birth certificate, and that newspapers in Honolulu printed notices of his birth, which was on Aug. 4, 1961.

"I'm the guy who said 'put the birth certificate on the Internet,' '" Gibbs said. "It has apparently, among those people, dissuaded virtually none of them."